Several colleagues and I attended a seminar a few weeks ago on the subject of robotics and lego engineering for young children. This might sound like an overly technical approach to childhood learning, but the ramifications of “purposefully designed technologically-rich interventions” are both intuitive and developmentally compelling.

I have long been of the belief that much of childhood learning takes place as a result of play.  According to Marina Bers, Professor of Child Development and Director of the DevTech research group at Tufts University, this metaphor can be captured even more fully by thinking about the difference between the playpen and the playground.

Playpens are designed primarily for safety, whereas playgrounds must provide for as much safety as possible while also allowing for exploration and interaction.  Cognitive growth can surely take place in a playpen, but many aspects of this learning are substantially limited: social interaction, collaboration, negotiation, and physical exploration, to name just a few.

Playgrounds are designed for different purposes altogether, the best ones affording opportunities for simultaneous exploration of the child’s social and physical and imaginative worlds.  It should be no surprise that no one has yet designed an entirely safe playground.  After all, the very nature of a playground is to encourage controlled risk-taking.

Hence the appeal of “purposefully designed” robotics programs and lego engineering for the young child.  In an age when touch-screen devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous both in homes and in schools, we must be really mindful of the limitations of the playpen.  Touch-screen devices do allow for some learning, but they clearly inhibit exploration of the social and physical environment.

In contrast, just like the very best playgrounds, the robotics programs of today’s elementary school classrooms require a great deal of collaboration and negotiation and physical play.  Even more important, perhaps, these programs both mimic and lay foundation for the very best innovation in business and in real-world problem-solving.  This is the future of 21st century learning.

To learn more about DevTech Research Group, please click on the following link: http://ase.tufts.edu/DevTech/

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